Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
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Zambia’s Inflation drops to 9.4%
-
US economic growth stronger than expected
-
Dr Godwin Beene appointed Country Manager of First Quantum Minerals in Zambia
Story of the Day
In accordance with Section 3.59 of the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listings Requirements (“LuSE Listings Requirements”), the Board of Directors of British American Tobacco (Zambia) Plc (“the Company” or “BATZ”) (the “Board”) wishes to announce the resignation of Zoe Chisanga Chiliboyi as company secretary. Furthermore, the Board has appointed Axis Advisory Limited as the Company Secretary effective 17 January 2023. Read more
In Local Business News Sponsored by
The annual inflation for January 2023 has reduced to 9.4 percent from the 9.9 percent recorded in December 2022. And the Zambia Statistics Agency says retail prices between December 2022 and January 2023 show that the national average price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal increased by 5.67 percent from K171.72 to K 181.46. Read more: News Diggers
Energy Regulation Board Chairperson Reynolds Bowa says the continued depreciation of the Kwacha against major convertibles might have a negative impact on the review of fuel pump prices next week. In an interview, Thursday, Bowa said it is certain that the Kwacha depreciation negatively impacts the fuel price. “I have said publicly on many occasions that the two most important factors in the pricing of fuel are the international fuel price and the exchange rate. The basic consideration is that at least in terms of the exchange rate, the fuel is priced in dollars and we as Zambians pay for it in Kwacha.” Read more: News Diggers
Zambia’s export volumes of copper has declined to 66.6 thousands tonnes in December 2022, impacting on the country’s traditional export earnings for that month. This saw Zambia’s traditional export earnings declining by 11.9 percent to K9.4 billion in December 2022 from K10.6 billion the previous month. In terms of share in total exports, traditional exports accounted for 63.8 percent of export earnings in December 2022. This is according to Zambia Statistical Agency (ZamStats) interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Puma Zambia PLC has entered into a transaction agreement with Ogaz Zambia Limited for the purchase of its petroleum assets at a cost of US$3.4 million. Puma Zambia intends to acquire Ogaz’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) related assets at the total cost of US$3.4 million. This is according to the market update posted on Lusaka Security Exchange (LuSE) on Thursday. It stated that as at January 25, 2023, the market value of Puma was K800 million. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Government is to set aside $1.5bn for Agriculture and food Compact projects so as to encourage development partners to bring in more financing towards the projects. This came to light when President Hakainde Hichilema met the AfDB and development partners on the sidelines of the Dakar 2 Summit to showcase Zambia’s investment environment and projects tailored to support growth in agriculture. This is in order for the country to obtain funds from the $10bn AfDB Compact support to finance agricultural components of the deliverable Compacts. President Hichilema chaired the meeting during which Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo presented Zambia’s investment needs within the framework of mobilising financing and investment for the Food and Agriculture Deliverable Compacts. Read more: ZNBC
In International Business News
The US economy did better than expected at the end of last year, despite higher borrowing costs and rising cost of living dragging on growth. The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9% in the last three months of 2022, official figures show. That was down from 3.2% in the previous quarter, as home sales and construction tumbled. Some analysts are worried that the US economy is headed for recession, although the jobs market has held up. Read more: BBC News
Boeing has told a US court it was not guilty of concealing information about flight control systems on its 737 Max aircraft, which led to two crashes, killing 346 people. Flaws in the systems were found to have led to the accidents, but Boeing avoided a trial by agreeing to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn). Now relatives of those who died are trying to reopen the settlement. They are due to confront the aircraft giant in court. The hearing marks the first time Boeing has been forced to answer to the fraud charge in a public court, after the judge hearing the case ruled that those killed in the planes were legally “crime victims” and should have been involved in settlement negotiations. Families of those who died say that the deal Boeing reached with the Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2021 to resolve a criminal conspiracy charge was a “sweetheart agreement” which violated their rights and allowed the company to avoid being held fully accountable. Read more: BBC News
Visa Inc’s revenue growth continued to wind back to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter as the post-lockdown travel craze ebbed and consumer spending slowed in a tough economy. The world’s largest payments processor still surpassed Wall Street targets for profit, sending its shares up 1.4% to $227.82 in after-hours trading on Thursday. Cross-border volumes – a key measure that tracks spending on cards beyond the country of issue – jumped 22% year-over-year on a constant dollar basis as a stronger greenback boosted out-of-U.S. travel by softening the hit from inflation and rising interest rates. Read more: Reuters
Mastercard Inc forecast current-quarter revenue growth short of Wall Street estimates on Thursday, saying the boost from pent-up demand for travel will diminish going forward. The payments company said travel to most regions had recovered to levels seen before the pandemic, fanning fears of a tough environment in 2023 as the economy loses steam, sending its shares down nearly 2% to $375.11. After the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes for most of last year, the economy has begun to show some signs of slowing down, with wide-ranging layoffs and fears of a recession spooking consumers into saving more, which is likely to impact travel growth. Read more: Reuters
Finally, Capital Markets News
Former Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary Dr Godwin Beene has been appointed Country Manager of First Quantum Minerals in Zambia, taking over from General Kingsley Chinkuli, who will continue with the company on an advisory basis. Dr Beene served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines from January 2009 to November 2011 during the Rupiah Banda led MMD regime. Analysts say Dr Beene, the President of the Zambia Chamber of Mines, is well-equipped for the job at hand, bringing to the table both industry expertise and the necessary familiarity with government operations and structures. Dr Beene has since emphasised that the mining industry, though oftentimes at the centre of controversy, is the lifeblood of the Zambian economy. Read more
In 31 trades recorded yesterday, 9,040 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K27,250.90. A share price gain of K0.01 was recorded in CEC Zambia. A share price loss of K0.1 was recorded in Zambeef. A share price loss of K0.01 was recorded in Zanaco. Trading activity was recorded in Real Estate Investment Zambia and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI)closed 7,226.68 points down by 0.09% from its previous close of 7,233.16 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,388,104,629.41 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,605,419,189.41 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Picture of the Day
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
-
Zambia’s Inflation drops to 9.4%
-
US economic growth stronger than expected
-
Dr Godwin Beene appointed Country Manager of First Quantum Minerals in Zambia
Story of the Day
In accordance with Section 3.59 of the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listings Requirements (“LuSE Listings Requirements”), the Board of Directors of British American Tobacco (Zambia) Plc (“the Company” or “BATZ”) (the “Board”) wishes to announce the resignation of Zoe Chisanga Chiliboyi as company secretary. Furthermore, the Board has appointed Axis Advisory Limited as the Company Secretary effective 17 January 2023. Read more
In Local Business News Sponsored by
The annual inflation for January 2023 has reduced to 9.4 percent from the 9.9 percent recorded in December 2022. And the Zambia Statistics Agency says retail prices between December 2022 and January 2023 show that the national average price of a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal increased by 5.67 percent from K171.72 to K 181.46. Read more: News Diggers
Energy Regulation Board Chairperson Reynolds Bowa says the continued depreciation of the Kwacha against major convertibles might have a negative impact on the review of fuel pump prices next week. In an interview, Thursday, Bowa said it is certain that the Kwacha depreciation negatively impacts the fuel price. “I have said publicly on many occasions that the two most important factors in the pricing of fuel are the international fuel price and the exchange rate. The basic consideration is that at least in terms of the exchange rate, the fuel is priced in dollars and we as Zambians pay for it in Kwacha.” Read more: News Diggers
Zambia’s export volumes of copper has declined to 66.6 thousands tonnes in December 2022, impacting on the country’s traditional export earnings for that month. This saw Zambia’s traditional export earnings declining by 11.9 percent to K9.4 billion in December 2022 from K10.6 billion the previous month. In terms of share in total exports, traditional exports accounted for 63.8 percent of export earnings in December 2022. This is according to Zambia Statistical Agency (ZamStats) interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Puma Zambia PLC has entered into a transaction agreement with Ogaz Zambia Limited for the purchase of its petroleum assets at a cost of US$3.4 million. Puma Zambia intends to acquire Ogaz’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) related assets at the total cost of US$3.4 million. This is according to the market update posted on Lusaka Security Exchange (LuSE) on Thursday. It stated that as at January 25, 2023, the market value of Puma was K800 million. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Government is to set aside $1.5bn for Agriculture and food Compact projects so as to encourage development partners to bring in more financing towards the projects. This came to light when President Hakainde Hichilema met the AfDB and development partners on the sidelines of the Dakar 2 Summit to showcase Zambia’s investment environment and projects tailored to support growth in agriculture. This is in order for the country to obtain funds from the $10bn AfDB Compact support to finance agricultural components of the deliverable Compacts. President Hichilema chaired the meeting during which Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo presented Zambia’s investment needs within the framework of mobilising financing and investment for the Food and Agriculture Deliverable Compacts. Read more: ZNBC
In International Business News
The US economy did better than expected at the end of last year, despite higher borrowing costs and rising cost of living dragging on growth. The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9% in the last three months of 2022, official figures show. That was down from 3.2% in the previous quarter, as home sales and construction tumbled. Some analysts are worried that the US economy is headed for recession, although the jobs market has held up. Read more: BBC News
Boeing has told a US court it was not guilty of concealing information about flight control systems on its 737 Max aircraft, which led to two crashes, killing 346 people. Flaws in the systems were found to have led to the accidents, but Boeing avoided a trial by agreeing to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn). Now relatives of those who died are trying to reopen the settlement. They are due to confront the aircraft giant in court. The hearing marks the first time Boeing has been forced to answer to the fraud charge in a public court, after the judge hearing the case ruled that those killed in the planes were legally “crime victims” and should have been involved in settlement negotiations. Families of those who died say that the deal Boeing reached with the Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2021 to resolve a criminal conspiracy charge was a “sweetheart agreement” which violated their rights and allowed the company to avoid being held fully accountable. Read more: BBC News
Visa Inc’s revenue growth continued to wind back to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter as the post-lockdown travel craze ebbed and consumer spending slowed in a tough economy. The world’s largest payments processor still surpassed Wall Street targets for profit, sending its shares up 1.4% to $227.82 in after-hours trading on Thursday. Cross-border volumes – a key measure that tracks spending on cards beyond the country of issue – jumped 22% year-over-year on a constant dollar basis as a stronger greenback boosted out-of-U.S. travel by softening the hit from inflation and rising interest rates. Read more: Reuters
Mastercard Inc forecast current-quarter revenue growth short of Wall Street estimates on Thursday, saying the boost from pent-up demand for travel will diminish going forward. The payments company said travel to most regions had recovered to levels seen before the pandemic, fanning fears of a tough environment in 2023 as the economy loses steam, sending its shares down nearly 2% to $375.11. After the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes for most of last year, the economy has begun to show some signs of slowing down, with wide-ranging layoffs and fears of a recession spooking consumers into saving more, which is likely to impact travel growth. Read more: Reuters
Finally, Capital Markets News
Former Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary Dr Godwin Beene has been appointed Country Manager of First Quantum Minerals in Zambia, taking over from General Kingsley Chinkuli, who will continue with the company on an advisory basis. Dr Beene served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines from January 2009 to November 2011 during the Rupiah Banda led MMD regime. Analysts say Dr Beene, the President of the Zambia Chamber of Mines, is well-equipped for the job at hand, bringing to the table both industry expertise and the necessary familiarity with government operations and structures. Dr Beene has since emphasised that the mining industry, though oftentimes at the centre of controversy, is the lifeblood of the Zambian economy. Read more
In 31 trades recorded yesterday, 9,040 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K27,250.90. A share price gain of K0.01 was recorded in CEC Zambia. A share price loss of K0.1 was recorded in Zambeef. A share price loss of K0.01 was recorded in Zanaco. Trading activity was recorded in Real Estate Investment Zambia and CEC Africa on the quoted tier. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI)closed 7,226.68 points down by 0.09% from its previous close of 7,233.16 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K72,388,104,629.41 including Shoprite Holdings and K37,605,419,189.41 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Picture of the Day
